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Community Development is a value-based approach to working with communities. It recognises that there are huge disparities between the rich and poor within our society, and aims to create a fairer society. It seeks to tackle social injustices and promote social justice by working with people within communities to identify their own needs and to work together to try and redress them. This may be by providing their own services, by working in partnership with public service providers to change the way services are delivered so they are more effective and efficient, or by campaigning against actions that will adversely affect their communities.

The National Occupational Standards for Community Development (2009) state that
‘Community Development is a long–term value based process which aims to address imbalances in power and bring about change founded on social justice, equality and inclusion. The process enables people to organise and work together to:

• identify their own needs and aspirations
• take action to exert influence on the decisions which affect their lives
• improve the quality of their own lives, the communities in which they live, and societies of which they are a part.’

It also summarises the ethical, value base that underpins all Community Development practice:

• Equality and anti-discrimination
• Social justice
• Collective action
• Community empowerment
• Working and learning together.

The key skill areas of Community Development have been defined as:-

• Understanding and engaging with different and diverse communities
• Supporting community groups and collective action
• Supporting communities to engage in partnerships and cross- sectoral working
• Encouraging people to share their skills and expertise and to develop new skills
• Supporting the development of new groups and organisations and helping them to become strong and sustainable

Community Development is a clearly articulated way of intervening with communities over a period of time to collectively achieve their goals. It is quite different from other ways of intervening and working in communities.